Clinical Significance of hTERC Amplification in Cervical Squamous Cell Lesions Detected by FISH

Cervical squamous cell carcinoma is the second most common cancer in women worldwide (zur Hausen et al., 2002). In recent years, this disease has increased gradually in China; therefore, it is very important to establish early detection of high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), which is the precursor of invasive cervical squamous cell carcinoma. It is a major challenge in screening programs for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, as some lesions may regress spontaneously and may not necessarily need treatment, while others may evolve into high-grade lesions (zur Hausen et al., 2002). Epidemiological and molecular biological studies have shown that infection with the human papillomavirus (HPV) is considered the most significant risk factor in initiating CIN and cervical squamous cell carcinogenesis, but other genetic events are necessary for a cervical precancerous lesion to progress 1Department of Pathology, The Third Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, 2Department of Interventional Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China, 3Department of Radiology, USC University Hospital, Keck School of Medicine of University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA, Contributed equally : & *For correspondence : shaock2001@ yahoo.com Abstract